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Ex-British PM David Cameron praises Betsy DeVos; President Trump not so much

For several years, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has been active in private school choice programs. This dates back to the days when she and her husband would visit the Potter’s House Christian School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She gained an acute awareness of how difficult it was for many parents to afford the necessary tuition and she decided she wanted to help these families. She started a foundation so that low-income parents could get scholarships for their children to attend private schools. Later she served on the American Education Reform Council and Children First America, which worked to make tax credits and vouchers available. In order to make the ideas associated with educational choice better known to the public, she helped to form the American Foundation for Children. Mrs. DeVos feels strongly that the location of a family’s home should not dicate what school that family’s children should go to. She also feels that charter schools, magnet schools,virtual schools, and homeschooling have a valid place in our educational system.

The United States Senate confirmed Mrs. DeVos for Education Secretary last February after her nomination by President Donald Trump. Previously Mrs. DeVos had been chairman of the enterprise and investment management firm The Windquest Group. She has served on the boards of several organizations that include Kids Hope USA, Kendall College of Art and Design, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. For close to thirty years she has been working to provide quality educational opportunities for children from disadvantaged families. This includes her work in the public schools of Grand Rapids as an in-school mentor, helping teachers, students, and families.

In her position as Secretary of Education she believes that states should have better control over education. Betsy DeVos received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is currently married to Dick DeVos, a prominent philanthropist, entrepreneur, and community activist. Their family includes four children, and six grandchildren. Her work in the District of Columbia and twenty five states has benefited students and their parents by giving them a broader range of educational opportunities, and she frequently speaks out for the need for more donations to help with advocacy efforts.